Opinion: GOP's voter suppression

A massive Republican campaign likely to suppress minority and low-income voting is under way. If it works, the GOP may be able to prevent many millions of Americans, largely Democrats, from voting — potentially affecting 171 electoral votes.

To counteract these new state restrictions, President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign has announced wide-ranging “voter protection” efforts.

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Though right-wing efforts to suppress low-income and minority voting have a long history, the current GOP campaign seems unprecedented in scope, organization and ambition.

Public attention has focused on the new state photo ID requirements. But many other new and not-so-new devices have been instituted across the nation. These include: cutbacks in the days available for pre-Election Day voting, making it harder to assist voters with registration, eliminating Election Day registration and requiring proof of citizenship to either register or vote.

Not all these measures will likely survive court challenges. The 14th and 15th amendments and the 1965 Voting Rights Act bar discrimination and other interference with voting in all elections. In addition, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires preclearance for nondiscrimination by either the Justice Department or a federal court before certain states — including South Carolina, Alabama, Texas and parts of Florida and North Carolina — can change any voting procedures.

Nonetheless, perhaps most of these voter-suppression devices will survive. Here are some details of what we can expect to see:

Early voting: U.S. elections are traditionally held on Tuesdays — an obstacle for many low-income working people, few of whom are given time off to vote. So 33 states and the District of Columbia now allow early voting — including on Saturday and Sunday. Many Americans, particularly minorities, have taken advantage of this.

In 2008, for example, black voters accounted for 13 percent of the total turnout but for 22 percent of the early votes and 31 percent of Sunday voters. Latinos were 7.4 percent overall — but 22 percent of the final-Sunday voters.

In North Carolina, which Obama won narrowly in 2008, more than half of the African-American vote was cast early, compared with 40 percent of the white vote. This pattern was repeated in 2010.

But it won’t be in 2012. GOP state legislatures in Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio and West Virginia have cut the number of early voting days. Florida, under Gov. Rick Scott, who has been a leader in the voter-suppression effort, reduced early voting from 14 days to eight. In Ohio, it went from 35 days to 16.

Florida and other states have also eliminated voting on the Sunday before election — when so much minority voting takes place. Ohio ended all Sunday voting.